Kashish Sharma
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Written By: Kashish Sharma | Updated : March 2, 2023 11:25 AM IST
For many women, getting a diagnosis of endometriosis is an exhausting process where they might have to go through many misdiagnoses along the way.
Endometriosis is a condition affecting 10 per cent of females in which endometrial-like tissue grows outside the uterus, resulting in pain, infertility, and physical dysfunction. The condition can have a serious impact on the quality of life and sometimes it may take years to be diagnosed with the condition. Research in the past has shown a mean diagnostic delay of 6.7 years. The reasons for misdiagnosis could be the resemblance of the symptoms with other medical conditions and sometimes it could be the result of gender stereotyping.
For many women, getting a diagnosis of endometriosis is an exhausting process where they might have to go through many misdiagnoses along the way. The most prominent symptom of the condition is debilitating pain that can also differ from woman to woman and is dependent on the location of the extra growth. The condition can affect the pelvic cavity, and ovaries, and can even affect the rectum and bowel. Hence, the affected population can suffer from a wide range of pain.
The condition does not just involve heavy periods but also disturbing chronic pain. The affected people also suffer from rectal and bowel troubles. The symptoms of the condition are usually vague and very similar to other medical conditions like pelvic inflammatory disease, irritable bowel syndrome, ovarian cysts and even musculoskeletal issues. Hence, the affected person might be needed to rule out all the possibilities before reaching a conclusion. There is also some reported gender bias around the condition where the symptoms might actually be dismissed by even some healthcare professionals as a "bad period". Sometimes tests like ultrasound might not be able to provide enough information to make a diagnosis of the condition. Also, since the condition affects so many different parts of the body, vagina, rectum, bladder, intestines and others, the doctor might misdiagnose it with some other disorder. The affected person might also be required to go through many pelvic tests, MRI scans and laparoscopy before getting the correct diagnosis.
A disadvantage of the medical condition is its diverse symptoms. Sometimes the growth or lesion can press a woman's sciatic nerve and the affected person might experience sciatica which might appear as a very distant symptom of the condition. The following are some common symptoms the affected person might experience-
